The Community Court of Justice, ECOWAS has delivered its judgment in Case No. ECW/CCJ/APP/56/21/REV, brought by the Federal Republic of Nigeria requesting the Court to revise its decision in the case of Gregory J. Todd v Federal Republic of Nigeria in which Judgment No. ECW/CCJ/JUD/41/23 was delivered by the Court on 6 November 2023.
In the original judgment in the case of Gregory J. Todd v Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Court held that Nigeria violated Mr Gregory Todd’s freedom of movement when his passport was unreasonably and arbitrarily seized by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The Court ordered the payment of ten thousand US dollars ($10,000) to Mr Gregory Todd as damages and dismissed all other claims.
In a post-judgment application based on Article 92 and 93 of the Rules of the Court, the Federal Republic of Nigeria, sought a revision of Judgment No. ECW/CCJ/JUD/41/23 on grounds of alleged new facts which came into its knowledge on 5 April 2024, after the Court had delivered its judgment on 6 November 2023. However, instead of providing new fact and its supporting evidence, it stated and elaborated three points of law as grounds for its request for revision:
That the Court acted beyond its legal powers by recognising, Mr Gregory Todd, a foreign national’s human rights application under Article 10(d) of the Protocol of the Court.
That the Court improperly assumed appellate jurisdiction over decisions of Nigerian domestic courts by hearing the human rights application of Mr Gregory Todd.
That Mr Gregory Todd’s human rights application to the ECOWAS Court was inadmissible as the matter had already been conclusively determined by the Federal High Court of Abuja, thereby precluding its re-litigation under the doctrine of res judicata.
On jurisdiction, the Court affirmed it had jurisdiction to hear the matter under Article 27 of the Court’s Protocol (as amended), which grants the Court power to consider applications for revision of its judgments upon the discovery of new facts of a decisive nature.
However, the Court held that that Nigeria’s application for revision was inadmissible as the grounds outlined in the application did not constitute new facts within the meaning of Article 27 of the Court’s Protocol. The Court determined that all the issues raised in the revision application had already been raised by Nigeria in the original proceedings and clearly dealt with in the judgment delivered on 6 November 2023.
Therefore, the Court held that the request for revision had no legal basis, was inadmissible under Article 27 of the Protocol of the Court (as amended) and constituted an abuse of the Court’s post-judgment procedures. The application for revision was thereby dismissed.
The Court: Declared that it had jurisdiction to consider the application for revision of judgment; Found that the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s request for revision was inadmissible; Ordered the Federal Republic of Nigeria to comply with the previous judgment which included the payment of damages awarded against it; Ordered the Federal Republic of Nigeria to bear the costs incurred by Mr Gregory Todd in relation to this application for revision.
The judgment was delivered by a panel comprising: Hon. Justice Ricardo Cláudio Monteiro Gonçalves – Presiding Judge; Hon. Justice Gberi-be Ouattara – Member; and Hon. Justice Edward Amoako Asante – Judge Rapporteur / Member
